I hadn’t seen the news for a couple of weeks, so I didn’t know about the Chick Fil-A hoopla until one of the people in our community posted about how sad she was that so many were being un-invited to the table. (thank you Sarah).
I posted something like this to our community’s Facebook group:
Dear Community…
When we see the kind of strong, reactionary response we are around this issue (and maybe even have that same response ourselves), we know we’re dealing with an issue that has somehow touched a visceral center deep inside a lot of people. It is not the higher human brain functions that are driving the knee-jerk, reflex response we’re seeing, but some deep and primal part of us; a reptilian/mammalian brain… fight/flight… fear/threat… response.
Christian people feel threatened by gay people… they’re going to turn our nation into Sodom and Gomorrah. Gay people feel threatened by Christian people… they’re going to take away our rights and continue to marginalize us back to second-class-citizen status. Feeling the threat, everybody’s mammalian brains kick in for a fight.
It would behoove us, then, both Christian and gay people (and those rare gay Christians as well), to step back a moment, and think about our own visceral reactions. In the old days we called stepping back into our human brains, “spirituality,” or “character,” or “maturity.” That would be a good exercise for us right now.
If any of us are watching this spectacle and feeling smugly settled in our “stand on an issue” posture, Christian spirituality would invite us to think again.
There are some pretty loud voices out there telling you how a Christian should think, speak, and act on this issue. Be cautious. They may have missed the point.
When humans feel threatened, our instinct is to circle the wagons and defend ourselves. That’s clearly happening on both sides. Even so, one thing I’m pretty sure of: the “us vs. them” posture being struck right now by both sides is decidedly NOT a Christian one.
This post makes me think of I Corinthians when Paul is talking about communion. Communion used to be a meal that people would enjoy together. What was happening, however, was that the rich were eating a feast and the poor almost didn’t have anything to eat. Paul was addressing the fact that communion was not about what you eat, but about sharing a meal with the community. The separation defeated the purpose of communion. This lack of inclusiveness was the issue he was upset about, the “us vs. them” issue.
Our hands should be reaching toward others instead of pushing them away, or judging them. I pray for a whole community; I don’t ask if the are gay,or any other “devisive” term! I’ve seen the love of God in many people in a variety of packages. A blind person sees us all the same… so does our Lord.. for He told us so! Including is an act of a Christian in my eyes.